declaration:
char *a[6];

underlaying memory:
| a[0] | a[1] | a[2] | a[3] | a[4] | a[5] |

and now you allocate 5 bytes for a[0]
a[0] = malloc(5 * sizeof(char));
| a[0] | a[1] | a[2] | a[3] | a[4] | a[5] |
   |
   v (some other region in memory)
  a[0][1] a[0][1] a[0][2] a[0][3] a[0][4]

is this so far more or less "correct"?
or does memory looks like this after malloc operation?
| a[0][1] a[0][1] a[0][2] a[0][3] a[0][4] | a[1] | a[2] | a[3] | a[4] | a[5] |